


Happy Birthday, Ash

by i_zu_mo



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-07 23:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15918408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_zu_mo/pseuds/i_zu_mo
Summary: Ash hasn't had that many good birthdays. The people who love him are determined to change that.





	Happy Birthday, Ash

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I started on Ash’s birthday but didn’t get to finish until a bit later. It’s not even really finished, but I’m forcing myself to be okay with it because I needed to get into the flow of just writing and not being so critical with myself. This is super short and eventually I'll compile all my short one-shots into a single thing, but here it is for now. I still have to figure out how AO3 works.
> 
>  
> 
> Happy birthday, Ash! You deserve the entire world.

It’s the first birthday in years - since he was a little, little kid - that he actually wants to remember. Eiji and Ibe had made him a cake, iced bright yellow and blue, with “happy birthday, Ash” written across the top in English and Japanese. It was utterly ridiculous looking, and Ash had loved it.

“American cakes have too much sugar,” Eiji had said as he handed him a piece carefully, his voice low and tone so serious that it would have been comical if he hadn’t looked so genuinely disturbed. “Hopefully, it tastes okay to you.”

It had been perfect.

Everyone who meant something good to Ash had been there. It was a small pool of people, less than he could count on two hands, but they were his. He hadn’t had something like this before. Not since Griffin.

He’d almost cried. Almost.

 

* * *

 

He’s lying on his bed beside Eiji now, the two of them alone with the remnants of the little birthday party scattered around the room. There's a red-covered book laying on the bed stand beside them. Max brought him a first-edition copy of The Catcher in the Rye, with frayed corners and stiff, thin pages. “It’s been in my family a while,” the man had told him with a sheepish little grin. “I’m sure you’ve already read it, but…”

Ash had been silent for several moments, then gingerly took the book in his hands like it would crumble if he wasn't careful. "It's almost as old as you, huh?" There'd been a smirk on his lips, but it was soft. "Thanks... Dad.”

The smell of homemade Chinese cooking still lingers in the air. Shorter and Nadia had made enough to fill his fridge with leftovers.

He thinks about all of that while he stares at Eiji’s closed eyes, as he focuses on the way his soft breath fills the space between them while he sleeps. They’d dozed off together after everyone had left, bellies full and minds exhausted. Ash’s sleep had been fitful, as always, and he’d woken with a thudding pulse and the dampness of sweat on the back of his shirt. But unlike so many other times, Eiji had been there beside him, bathed in the blue light of dusk like something enchanted and otherwordly.

Ash reaches out a hand and lets the tips of his fingers touch against Eiji’s cheek, thumb smoothing over the soft jut of his cheekbone. Eiji stirs a bit and pushes his cheek into Ash’s palm with a sigh. Ash bites his lip. This guy…

He reaches his other hand out and carefully moves it through Eiji’s bangs, rolls the ends of his soft hair between his thumb and finger and takes a deep breath.

Eiji is beautiful, he thinks, not for the first time. He’s stupidly beautiful.

Eiji’s hand twitches and it sends Ash’s heart racing and his skin buzzing, but he doesn’t move, doesn’t pull away because _it’s Eiji_ , and something settles warmly over his soul like a heavy blanket.

He hums and lets Eiji’s bangs drift back across his forehead, chest tight but somehow comfortable. He knows those feelings should contradict each other. Somehow, they don’t. Eiji had that effect on people. On him.

“I don’t know if you can hear me,” Ash whispers into the darkness, leaning in closer to make out Eiji’s features in the darkness. “If you can, just… pretend you can’t, okay? You... You're the best thing that's ever happened to someone like me, Eiji. I wish... I knew how to tell you that when you’re awake.”

Ash huffs a tiny, dry laugh and strokes his fingers through Eiji’s bangs again before he continues. “I’ll never let anything bad happen to you. I promise. I swear on my life.”

Eiji’s brow wrinkles and Ash pulls his hand out of the thick hair, breath held in silence, waiting. But Eiji’s eyes stay closed, and he dips his head down to bury his face against Ash’s neck with a shudder. Ash stills, goes rigid at the touch, the closeness, but then Eiji’s arm is snaking around his waist and hugging him, and it’s all so sweet and innocent that it makes Ash’s heart ache and his throat feel full. Gradually, he relaxes and cradles Eiji’s head close against him. The breath on his neck is slow and even.

Heat trickles down Ash’s cheeks, collects in little shallow puddles on Eiji’s skin. The Japanese boy moves to lift his head away and looks up at him with drooping, sleep-drunk eyes.

“Ash…?” he mumbles. His eyes open fully, alert now with recognition. “What is wrong?”

Ash tries to choke out a reply, to tell Eiji he’s fine, but he only manages a hard swallow and a shake of his head. Something in Eiji’s expression changes - the sharp, worried curve of his eyebrows softens. He slides his body up and suddenly Ash’s head is being pulled forward and tucked under Eiji’s chin.

Eiji’s shirt is soft and dry. His skin smells like cheap soap. It’s intoxicating.

“Shh, I am here…” Eiji murmurs, and Ash feels him shove his nose into his hair with a quiet inhale. A thin hand rubs circles into his back. “Right here, forever. You will never be alone again.”

Despite himself, despite the situation, Ash’s lips curve into a smile against Eiji’s throat.

“Forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come send me asheiji/ashoreiji/ashorter/shoreiji prompts @ i-zu-mo.tumblr.com!


End file.
